U.S. ambassador sounds assurance about new US middleman's further activity on Karabakh resolution

Source: AzerNews

A new co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group will do his job well, the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar told journalists on August 6.

He was commenting on appointment of James Warlick as OSCE mediator.

Morningstar noted that the newly appointed co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group from the United States, James Warlick, is a very experienced diplomat.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced on August 5 the appointment of Ambassador James Warlick as the next U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group.

According to Morningstar, Warlick worked as deputy director of the Afghan Bureau of the U.S. State Department and served as the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria. He also noted that he has worked with Warlick.

"I know that James Warlick will be a good co-chairman, he will do the job well," Morningstar said.

Regarding how appointment of a new co-chair of the Minsk Group will affect the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Morningstar noted that the U.S. always backs the positive changes in this issue.

"All our efforts are focused on resolving the conflict through peaceful means," he underlined.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, defying the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on a pullout from the occupied territories.

Morningstar also informed that the exact date of the visit of the new co-chair to the region is still unknown, expressing the hope that this will happen soon.

Ambassador Warlick is due to take up his new position in September.

He most recently served as Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and lead negotiator for the Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan. He served as Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2009-2012, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs from 2005 to 2006.

Ian Kelly currently acts as a temporary representative of the United States to the Minsk Group.

Kelly was named as the U.S. co-chair on an interim basis on December 21, 2012, pending the appointment of a new permanent co-chair.

In December Robert Bradtke completed his term as the U.S. Minsk Group co-chair.

The United States, along with Russia and France, has long been working to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.